Spotlight, Oh Spotlight
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day eight hundred and seventy-nine: top 16, number 3: Santana is about to experience something for the first time, a solo at Sectionals.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 41st cycle. Now cycle 42!_

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><p><em><strong>INTRODUCING "CHEAT SHEET" - <strong>If you want to know ahead of time when a certain series will be updated next, just reassemble the link below and check out the list, save it, print it, bookmark it, whatever you need!  
>Go to: <span>gleekathon [dot] tumblr [dot] com [slash] cheatsheet<span>_

_** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 42 CHEAT SHEET **_

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><p><strong>Countdown cycle #4 - <strong>Yes, it's that time again, where I select 16 favorite things (characters, ships, friendships...) from Glee and give them each a ficlet, and a chapter fic for #1. The previous countdown cycles, if you want to check them out, were c10 [days 190-210], c25 [days 505-525], and c29 [days 589-609]. Like the last countdowns, the #1 story is split in 3 blocks, the chapters posted on Tuesdays and Wednesdays over these three weeks, with #16 to #2 from Thursdays to Mondays.  
><strong>Coming in at #3...<strong>

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><p><strong>"Spotlight, Oh Spotlight"<br>Santana **

Santana had been anticipating business as usual when it came to Sectionals that year, the same people in the front, and the same people – including her – in the back. She'd tried to keep quiet about it, though that had worked about as long as was to be expected. Then Schuester had gone and surprised them by assigning numbers to… well, not Rachel. Brittany would get to dance right up there for all to see, so that was good, even if she was probably gonna be off celebrating with Wonder Wheeler Abrams before long. But then came the other part, the one other part…

The next day, the song had been picked, and with it came the choice of who would get the lead. Maybe it was out of the habit of not hearing her name that it took her a moment to realize Schuester had actually said it. But there it was. She'd played it cool, like she was both saying 'thank you, what an honor' and 'of course, it's me.' The moment she'd be in private though there might be some jumping around and air punching… She'd been waiting for this moment, longer than she'd care to say.

She hadn't joined Glee Club out of some long standing desire for the limelight, when she was more likely to be lit up with a lime slushie. It was going to be a quick sort of thing, for Quinn, and then that'd be over. But then they were recruited by Coach Sylvester to spy for her, so now she was going to have to tolerate them some more. Except then, like some cruel joke from the universe, she'd started to like it, and then lo and behold she'd begun to love it.

She'd gotten into the Cheerios before that, so she had that as far as skill set, everyone knew it. As far as her displaying any sort of prowess or pleasure for singing though, that had all been her sort of… secret, at least for the second part.

The more time she spent there though, the more she could remember little things here and there, memories from over the years. She most vividly remembered… so many afternoons spent in her living room, in front of the television, when she was younger, where she'd record music videos and then play, rewind, play, rewind, and so on, until she could sing and dance along. No one who knew her today would ever associate the word 'shy' with her, but back in the day, the moment anyone would catch her, she'd just stop. She'd close up her mouth, stand up straight, and if any of them, her mother, her father, her grandmother, should ever stall in leaving her be, she'd scurry off to her room and hide away.

But after years of doing things on her own, she'd grown bolder, and all those fears of what people would think of her, they'd gone away. Maybe not the right words, 'gone away,' more like 'shrunk.' As far as everything else in her life, her fears were her own business, but when it came to performing… they could watch all they want.

Cheerios had been part of that, sort of her… final transition, as a challenge to herself. Status was part of it, popularity and all of it, but just like she recalled her days with her videos now, she remembered it when she first stepped out on that field with the squad. And today she also remembered that feeling, of being out there with the other Cheerios. Everything had gone off… just perfect, but there had been this moment where she pulled in every little detail to remember and to hold.

Later, much later, she'd realize she'd done that again, the day they had all performed on the McKinley auditorium stage, all twelve of them. Not the first time, with April Rhodes, but the second, when Rachel had rejoined them. She had stored the memory because, even without being ready to admit it to herself, some part of her had recognized it as an important moment, a turning point in her life.

She would feel it again now, when they stood on the stage at Sectionals and the spotlight was on her to carry the song. She wasn't that little girl anymore, no. If people wanted to watch her sing and dance, then good, because she wanted them to see her, to love her… and what if she choked? She wouldn't, that wasn't her, she'd left that back a long time ago, she'd been waiting for this moment. Week in and week out of watching every other girl in Glee Club run away with solos that could have and, sometimes, should have been hers… This one was hers, and she'd show them it was only going to be the first of many.

Before they had gone on she had excused herself to go to the bathroom. All she wanted was one moment to herself, in case there was any leftover sort of emotion that needed to come out that she might want to keep from being too public. She stood at the mirror, fixing the small veil for a moment, checking out her reflection – this way, that way… She took it off again, straightening it out so she could hand it to them.

She looked back to the mirror again, thinking… This was an important moment, like others before, and yet this one was even more special. What she thought more than anything was that it could have been even bigger, should have been even bigger. But there were still things in her life that needed to happen that hadn't happened… Not all her fears had been evacuated, only some.

Maybe someday she would step out on a stage, and things would be different. She'd remember the moment, capture it, because she'd know it was her going out there, all of her. She wouldn't hide anything, she wouldn't have to, or feel that she had to.

"Santana, you still here?" She looked up to find Tina at the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming," she made to check her hair and makeup in the mirror one last time before following. This was her moment, and there was no chance she'd miss it, just to have Berry swoop in to 'save the day'…

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>******always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!******


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